Some time has passed. I was criticized for writing too personal on this global internet site that is open to everyone which led to the fact that I haven’t been writing at all. Anyways.
The wedding was a blast. It was a three day party after which everyone was quite tired. The Finnish quests felt a bit silly though in the beginning as it is custom that the quests make dresses from one and the same fabric that has been chosen for the occasion, so there we were; all looking exactly the same. A bunch of berries.
Last week the Finns and I went to a voodoo priest/chief in Togo. That was surely an unforgettable experience. The voodoo priest that we visited is one of the big chiefs that also attended the national voodoo festival the 10th of January. So there we were, in his house. There was smoke, chickens and goats: both dead and alive, blood, the smell of gin and the sounds of drums. When arrived there were some local women asking him for advice so we got to see the end of their ceremony and we were relieved that we didn’t have to drink from the glass of blood that was passed around. Then it was our turn. He asked our names and chitchatted a bit. A few of us asked for advice or made a wish. I asked him for advices concerning my future and the response was that my future looks brilliant, very brilliant. Phew. Glad to hear, not that I had any big doubts. He invited us to stay for dinner; to eat the animals that had been sacrificed by the people before us, but none of us thought that was a good idea. Then a lady came in and we got to follow her consultation as they talked in mina so we didn’t understand anyways. Otherwise it is just the voodoo priest and the one asking for something (and a few helpers) that are allowed to enter the room. It was very interesting to follow the process even though the smell of old gin and blood made most of us a bit nauseous.
The following day the HYPERLINK "http://www.kyltti.com" www.kyltti.com dudes came to Grand Popo. We had dinner at Lion Bar, good food and nice atmosphere as always, and had a great evening. Kyltti boys were a lot of fun. They were a real äijä group, in a good way. The next day I left for Togo which unfortunately meant that I didn’t have the time to show them around in Grand Popo but I heard rumours that they had a good time and left the village with a smile on their faces. I sure hope to meet them again one day, maybe in Finland or somewhere else. They seem to be on the road quit actively so wouldn’t be completely unthinkable to see the guys carrying their road sign somewhere in an unknown location. Yesterday I found out that one of them succeeded in putting his finger in the fan so he received 4 stitches without local anaesthesia somewhere in Burkina Faso. Good job!
Then two Finnish scholars and I went to Lomé. We took motorbikes, that drove like mad, to the boarder where it took around one hours to walk over to the Togolese side. There we found a bush taxi that drove us to our shabby but friendly hotel. In the evening we went to a Lebanese restaurant and I can’t even describe how nice it was to eat something else than rice or pâte with fish. We ordered falafel with hummus and ate until we almost dropped. It was marvellous to get tastes that have been gone for so long. After midnight we took motorbikes back to the hotel. This was one of the first times I held on like it would be my last day on earth. Well, when the speed meter is jumping between 70 and 130 km/h and you of course don’t have helmets and your cheeks are pulled back like in a roller coaster you easily see your life flash in front of you. To make things even a bit more exciting we slowed down at red lights but couldn’t stop as we were not in a good area of town which meant that if stopped by a red light on a moto I would have been robbed directly. So the drivers just screamed “allez allez allez” to each other and kept on driving. I was even pleased to greet the cockroach in the hotel room., even though I tried to kill him a while later without succeeding so we ended up sharing the same room and the bastard didn’t pay for his share.
The next 3 days we saw a lot in Lomé and had a lot of fun. It is an easy city to get a grip of with lots of friendly people and not as polluted as Cotonou. The down side is the corruption and all the military road blocks that demand money or take your moto if you don’t have all papers in order which many people don’t. We luckily managed to avoid them which was a very good thing as we didn’t have our passports on us as they were at the immigration office in order to extend the visa and of course we didn’t have any other id’s with us. So a hello from the militaries would have cost us quite a bit.
Then we put one of the Finnish scholar in a bush taxi and sent her to the Beninese boarder as she was leaving for Finland later the same day. She had a successful trip even though she doesn’t speak any French. The other scholar, Camilla and I, were invited to talk on the radio about sexual harassment. The host of the program wasn’t doing a very good job so one can easily say that we saved his show. It was very interesting to see a radio studio on Togo and I was told that Riki Sorsa is on their play list… I never found out why, but there he is.
All in all we spent 4 very nice days in Lomé and it was also nice to get out from Grand Popo a bit. Even though it is a lovely peaceful safe beach village one can get the urge to see something else.
The rain has started to fall heavily and sometimes at night I think the rain is coming through the roof but so far all is good. Nisse is in terrible shape which means that I have to push/run in order to start him. Luckily there are no traffic lights in grand popo as I couldn’t stop and easily continue the journey. I wonder if Nisse will make it to the end, meaning my time in Grand Popo?
A few days I made dinner to Florence and Boris and it was great to see their surprised faces as I prepared things they have never heard of or tasted before. I had bought egg noodles and Soya sauce in Lomé (things you definitely don’t find in grand popo) so I fried some onions, lots of garlic, different vegetables that I found that day and finally put the precooked noodles in the frying pan and poured some more soya sauce over the entire thing. Fried noodles! They really enjoyed it even though they looked at it a bit suspicious at first.
Now I am on Easter holiday meaning that I have Friday to Monday off. I was thinking about travelling somewhere but it is also quite nice to just relax for a few days, and besides I just a few days came from Togo. We shall see.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
pictures finally
so here comes a link to a few pictures! as i am in cotonou for 2 days i finally got the chance to use faster internet and post these!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40297&l=8e867&id=688982348
enjoy and hugs
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40297&l=8e867&id=688982348
enjoy and hugs
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sleepless nights
I have been having sleepless nights. Or let’s say that I do fall asleep relatively early, around 11 or 12 but then I wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning and can’t sleep anymore. Frustrating. So what is on my mind? Well maybe better to ask, what is not on my mind. Seems like I have the world in my head. Maybe drinking wine and reading Kierkegaard isn’t the best after all. It is not uncommon for me to not sleep as I have sleeping problems since teenage years, but until now I have slept like a baby here. Maybe Lariam is finally starting to show its brighter sides… I have had a few hallucinations but nothing more serious. I hope it stays at this. Maybe sleeplessness is also caused by the fact that it is now bloody hot at nights and my fan sucks. Last night there were also heavy rains and massive thunders. It looked like the sky had a disco. At least today the air is very fresh but also very humid. We are a sweaty bunch of people.
Maarit left and the bed suddenly feels very big. Where is that little blond thing that I used to accidentally hit during the night? I do get lots of new bed partner offers, but nah, alone is good. Unfortunately everyone doesn’t get the no and keep on trying until I completely loose my nerves. At least no one enters my bedroom when they hang around the house. They kindly stay behind the mosquito net-door and wouldn’t even dare to touch it. Good good.
I have a lot of nice programs in front on me. Tomorrow after work I will go with Boris to the Saturday market and then go home to his place and assist him cook dinner for his family. Will be exciting to see his place and watch him cook African style. His mother is crazy about me as she thinks I will be the future wife. Sorry mum, Boris is not the one for me. It will be nice though to meet his family. The same evening there is the monthly concert at Villa Karo and on Sunday I will take a motorboat to “bouche de roi” which is where the sea meets the river. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places here in the area. I will spend the day swimming, eating pick nick food and simply relaxing. On Monday evening I’ll go to Cotonou to welcome the new arriving Finnish scholar and on Tuesday I will be back in Grand Popo. Pas mal de program! I can’t believe it is almost march. Where is time disappearing? Well at least days are longer now that I don’t sleep… Bon, ce n’est pas grave. Sleep comes and goes like most things in life. Sometimes you have more of it, almost too much and something you lack it.
Maarit left and the bed suddenly feels very big. Where is that little blond thing that I used to accidentally hit during the night? I do get lots of new bed partner offers, but nah, alone is good. Unfortunately everyone doesn’t get the no and keep on trying until I completely loose my nerves. At least no one enters my bedroom when they hang around the house. They kindly stay behind the mosquito net-door and wouldn’t even dare to touch it. Good good.
I have a lot of nice programs in front on me. Tomorrow after work I will go with Boris to the Saturday market and then go home to his place and assist him cook dinner for his family. Will be exciting to see his place and watch him cook African style. His mother is crazy about me as she thinks I will be the future wife. Sorry mum, Boris is not the one for me. It will be nice though to meet his family. The same evening there is the monthly concert at Villa Karo and on Sunday I will take a motorboat to “bouche de roi” which is where the sea meets the river. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places here in the area. I will spend the day swimming, eating pick nick food and simply relaxing. On Monday evening I’ll go to Cotonou to welcome the new arriving Finnish scholar and on Tuesday I will be back in Grand Popo. Pas mal de program! I can’t believe it is almost march. Where is time disappearing? Well at least days are longer now that I don’t sleep… Bon, ce n’est pas grave. Sleep comes and goes like most things in life. Sometimes you have more of it, almost too much and something you lack it.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Parties, spiders, chickens and good vibes!
My need for own time, meaning at least one hour by myself a week, has been accomplished as the new neighbours have been quite busy. I got what I needed. Otherwise it has worked out very well and I think everyone is happy. Very nice neighbours, I have to say. Last thursday we arranged a party at the house, a party for Maarit’s departure. We cooked, or actually Boris did, for about 40 people, and we bought 8 liters of wine, 2 bottles of Pastis and a bottle of whiskey and everything was gone by the end of the night. That is what one would call a good celebration! Did I say Africans don’t drink? Ups. Well actually people drink quite a bit, all the time, strong palm booze, but seldom one sees people in a Finnish state of drunkenness. I might even admit that I was a little tipsy last night but then again it was the first time being tipsy in Africa. The party created lots of laughter and dancing until the dying of the stereo. One can’t have a party in Benin without music and dance so this meant that the party also died. At least everyone enjoyed themselves as long as it lasted. Have to admit that I was rather tired this morning and to my luck I had 5 guiding tours in a row…
On saturday the ex Villa Karo trainee Linni that currently lives in Lomé also came over with three friends and they will all stay at my place. Now you might think that I was getting stressed as I need my own time, but nah, I just need it once in a while, every few months. I am glad that they were here and we had a good weekend together. The ones that know me also know that I am a social monkey and enjoy having people around me. And besides I am not here to be alone, I am here to dance, laugh, learn, talk, socialize and what not. Mission accomplished as by the end of the night, of our big party, I was called “the petite beninoise”, thanks to my enthusiastic dancing. Yesterday I went to Cotonou, just for the day. It was a long and sweaty journey as the cars are always packed, meaning three people on the front seat, four in the back and yesterday one also in the luggage storage. On the way back from Cotonou we also had some chickens in the car that made lots of unhappy sounds. My intension was to find a internet café in order to download some pictures but the one I found was closed and then I finally didn’t have time to go to the others as I went with Villa Karo’s night guard Abdullai and he had to be back at work. But on my way to Cotonou my phone rang and surprise surprise it was Veronica. That was very nice. We talked for quite some time and it only cost her 1.5€ as she called through skype. Apparently one can also call very cheaply from Finland, cheap = 4 cents à minute, if dialling 99533 before my Benin number, that is +229 97831277. So wink wink, if anyone wants to call It is of course nice to hear voices from backhome!
What else? A chicken decided to enter my house the other day and make a hell of a lot of fuss about leaving. And oh yes, the spider. The electricity in Grand Popo is a mess which results in electrical cuts lasting a few hours to days. This means that the fridges melt and the fans don’t work which means that it feels like one is sleeping in a bad sauna and is completely covered in sweat in the morning. This is how I met the spider. The fans didn’t work and I was tired and sweaty at 7 a.m. and of course the lights in the bathroom didn’t work. In the semi darkness I could still see a hairy body on the wall. A monster spider! I went to get a candle and a stick. With a candle in one hand and the murder weapon in the other hand I entered the battle zone. The monster spider wasn’t ready to breathe his last breath. I kept on hitting him while he kept on defending himself and pretending not to get hurt. Finally I got him down on his knees and with a shoe I took his life. At this point Maarit woke up wondering what the hell I was doing hitting the wall and screaming like a mad woman. A real murder scene!
Yesterday evening I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I was chilling on the sofa reading an old iltasanomat (actually the sport section !! as that was the only magazine that was laying around) and drinking a glass of wine when my flatmates and their friends, meaning 6 local men, started to dance, sing and drum on the table. What a joy, energy and laughter. Couldn’t imagine seeing 6 men in Finland dance just like that out the blue with so much energy and happiness. I really felt like “the dude” chilling on the sofa with my sport section and wine watching the dancing men. This is exactly what makes one fall in love with Benin and maybe Africa in general (even though I never want to generalize Africa).
Pia asked me to comment Bush’s appearance in Benin but honestly I am in a complete news shade. I don’t have TV, we don’t have a newspaper and unfortunately I don’t have a radio… Of course I heard about Bush visiting, but that is all. So please do inform me of the biggest news events. Even though last night I got a fresh Helsingin Sanomat in my hand, wow, with the arrival of the new Finnish neighbours. That is surely something.
Unfortunately Maarit is leaving tomorrow. I was just thinking about it the other day that Maarit and I met on the airport in Cotonou the second of January and ever since we have shared the same room and bed, and it has worked out fantastically. It is surprising how easily it can be to get along with someone you have never met before and suddenly you are together all hours of the day. Well lately Maarit has been travelling around a bit so we haven’t been attached to the hip like we were in the beginning. She doesn’t look too excited about going home to Rauma. I wish her the best luck with everything! Things will be alright and like we say here: there is always tomorrow.
On saturday the ex Villa Karo trainee Linni that currently lives in Lomé also came over with three friends and they will all stay at my place. Now you might think that I was getting stressed as I need my own time, but nah, I just need it once in a while, every few months. I am glad that they were here and we had a good weekend together. The ones that know me also know that I am a social monkey and enjoy having people around me. And besides I am not here to be alone, I am here to dance, laugh, learn, talk, socialize and what not. Mission accomplished as by the end of the night, of our big party, I was called “the petite beninoise”, thanks to my enthusiastic dancing. Yesterday I went to Cotonou, just for the day. It was a long and sweaty journey as the cars are always packed, meaning three people on the front seat, four in the back and yesterday one also in the luggage storage. On the way back from Cotonou we also had some chickens in the car that made lots of unhappy sounds. My intension was to find a internet café in order to download some pictures but the one I found was closed and then I finally didn’t have time to go to the others as I went with Villa Karo’s night guard Abdullai and he had to be back at work. But on my way to Cotonou my phone rang and surprise surprise it was Veronica. That was very nice. We talked for quite some time and it only cost her 1.5€ as she called through skype. Apparently one can also call very cheaply from Finland, cheap = 4 cents à minute, if dialling 99533 before my Benin number, that is +229 97831277. So wink wink, if anyone wants to call It is of course nice to hear voices from backhome!
What else? A chicken decided to enter my house the other day and make a hell of a lot of fuss about leaving. And oh yes, the spider. The electricity in Grand Popo is a mess which results in electrical cuts lasting a few hours to days. This means that the fridges melt and the fans don’t work which means that it feels like one is sleeping in a bad sauna and is completely covered in sweat in the morning. This is how I met the spider. The fans didn’t work and I was tired and sweaty at 7 a.m. and of course the lights in the bathroom didn’t work. In the semi darkness I could still see a hairy body on the wall. A monster spider! I went to get a candle and a stick. With a candle in one hand and the murder weapon in the other hand I entered the battle zone. The monster spider wasn’t ready to breathe his last breath. I kept on hitting him while he kept on defending himself and pretending not to get hurt. Finally I got him down on his knees and with a shoe I took his life. At this point Maarit woke up wondering what the hell I was doing hitting the wall and screaming like a mad woman. A real murder scene!
Yesterday evening I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I was chilling on the sofa reading an old iltasanomat (actually the sport section !! as that was the only magazine that was laying around) and drinking a glass of wine when my flatmates and their friends, meaning 6 local men, started to dance, sing and drum on the table. What a joy, energy and laughter. Couldn’t imagine seeing 6 men in Finland dance just like that out the blue with so much energy and happiness. I really felt like “the dude” chilling on the sofa with my sport section and wine watching the dancing men. This is exactly what makes one fall in love with Benin and maybe Africa in general (even though I never want to generalize Africa).
Pia asked me to comment Bush’s appearance in Benin but honestly I am in a complete news shade. I don’t have TV, we don’t have a newspaper and unfortunately I don’t have a radio… Of course I heard about Bush visiting, but that is all. So please do inform me of the biggest news events. Even though last night I got a fresh Helsingin Sanomat in my hand, wow, with the arrival of the new Finnish neighbours. That is surely something.
Unfortunately Maarit is leaving tomorrow. I was just thinking about it the other day that Maarit and I met on the airport in Cotonou the second of January and ever since we have shared the same room and bed, and it has worked out fantastically. It is surprising how easily it can be to get along with someone you have never met before and suddenly you are together all hours of the day. Well lately Maarit has been travelling around a bit so we haven’t been attached to the hip like we were in the beginning. She doesn’t look too excited about going home to Rauma. I wish her the best luck with everything! Things will be alright and like we say here: there is always tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Everyday Life
I have found an everyday life in Grand Popo. I work, eat, swim, sleep, talk a lot of shaise, drive my moppe, hang around, drink a few glasses of wine now and then, and most of all I socialize. I socialize at work, well that is my job, I socialize on the streets as the habit is to greet every single one that passes you by and I socialize at home as I have shared the house with a couple (African lady and a French man) that invites half of the village to the house. There is music, hairdressing, food, laughter and a hell lot of people. Most of the time it is fun and a very good way to get to know the people in the village, but sometimes the extremely loud music makes me escape my house. Everyone has though been very friendly and I have had many many lunches and dinners with half of all the relatives. In a few days they will move out and in moves the next loud group. Hah!
Well I think that might actually be very pleasant. Gildas (guide Guildas for those who know him) is moving in the 15th and his wife to be, Jaana from Finland, arrives on the 24th with a friend. They are staying 2 months. I will have the chance to witness an African-Finnish wedding which will be very exciting. Gildas knows everyone is the village, has thousands of friends and plays the drums so I have been told that the house will be filled with music and people. At least I am not lonely!
My moped, Nisse, is quite a happy camper. It has only been about 3-4 times a week to the mechanist… well just smaller illnesses, nothing serious. Nisse is suffering from aging, the heat and would much rather just rest. Instead I make him roll in sand and darkness.
I am in good health and in a good mood and lately I have also had a lot of work which is quite nice. I definitely prefer being busy than just sitting around. Last weekend I made an overnight trip to Porto Novo and the village of Hêtin. A very successful trip and Porto Novo is a very nice city, far nicer than traffic and pollution mad Cotonou.
I am actually enjoying Benin to the point that I am considering staying for a few years. I don’t have studies, work or a relationship waiting for me in Finland so why not stay if I would find an interesting job. Interesting job could signify an international organisation, for example a NGO on human rights, a culture institute or something else. I have not yet checked all possibilities but time will tell. Maybe I am happy to return to good old Turku in 6 more months… or than not! Sometimes I do miss my everyday life in Turku. Most of all friends, all wonderful friends that it is so easy to hang out with, but I also miss Bristol, Kerttulin kievari, the simplicity of going to Siwa, reissumies, yoghurt, Aakkoset (for some strange reason) kvinnis and its people. But oh dear can’t even imagine how much I would miss Benin if I would be in rainy Turku. We shall see how things work out.
Well I think that might actually be very pleasant. Gildas (guide Guildas for those who know him) is moving in the 15th and his wife to be, Jaana from Finland, arrives on the 24th with a friend. They are staying 2 months. I will have the chance to witness an African-Finnish wedding which will be very exciting. Gildas knows everyone is the village, has thousands of friends and plays the drums so I have been told that the house will be filled with music and people. At least I am not lonely!
My moped, Nisse, is quite a happy camper. It has only been about 3-4 times a week to the mechanist… well just smaller illnesses, nothing serious. Nisse is suffering from aging, the heat and would much rather just rest. Instead I make him roll in sand and darkness.
I am in good health and in a good mood and lately I have also had a lot of work which is quite nice. I definitely prefer being busy than just sitting around. Last weekend I made an overnight trip to Porto Novo and the village of Hêtin. A very successful trip and Porto Novo is a very nice city, far nicer than traffic and pollution mad Cotonou.
I am actually enjoying Benin to the point that I am considering staying for a few years. I don’t have studies, work or a relationship waiting for me in Finland so why not stay if I would find an interesting job. Interesting job could signify an international organisation, for example a NGO on human rights, a culture institute or something else. I have not yet checked all possibilities but time will tell. Maybe I am happy to return to good old Turku in 6 more months… or than not! Sometimes I do miss my everyday life in Turku. Most of all friends, all wonderful friends that it is so easy to hang out with, but I also miss Bristol, Kerttulin kievari, the simplicity of going to Siwa, reissumies, yoghurt, Aakkoset (for some strange reason) kvinnis and its people. But oh dear can’t even imagine how much I would miss Benin if I would be in rainy Turku. We shall see how things work out.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
lots of stuff
24 january
Black/White, Bodies, Gecko, English, Laptop and Moped !
In the beginning of my stay in Grand Popo I thought that there was me, the Finns and the black Africans. Different colours of black Africans.
Now I think there are me and the finns that make a unity of yovos, and then there are friends, colleagues, fruit ladies, moped chauffeurs, children on their way to school, and a bunch of people I haven’t had the chance to talk to yet. The blackness has disappeared. All that is rest is my own yovoness. I don’t see people as black anymore. I see friends and smiles. I do have to admit though that I react when I see a new yovo in town; who is that and doing what? Interesting how fast a way of perceiving things can change. That I am grateful for. Maybe old dogs can learn to sit after all.
The regular body contact stroke me as slightly awkward in the beginning. My female colleagues straight forward grab my breasts, my male boss likes to comment my butt, lunch lady wants me for herself and makes sure to always touch my butt before I leave…and so on and so on. There is a lot of talk about my butt. They appreciate a round African butt on a yovo. Feels very strange to get so many comments about my body from people I don’t know. I don’t think much about it anymore unless it is a new form of comment. At least most of the comments are positive; otherwise it could be a bit heart breaking…
Today there was a frozen gecko in our fridge. I wonder how it got in. When it got taken out it fell like a dead dude on the floor. A while later it decided that ok, enough time being frozen, so it got up and continued its day as normal. Impressive. Geckos and lizards enjoy our garden. When they are not chasing each other they are relaxing in the sun. In the evenings they are curious what we are up to in the house so they tend to take a peak before being chase out by a mean yovo.
Today is the day for English course. The trainee is also teaching English twice a week for anyone that is interested. Yesterday we had only three students and yet it was somewhat difficult to know how to teach. The difficulties are caused by the fact that the students are all in very different levels of English knowledge. Otherwise I think it is quite fun.
Oh yes, my laptop died a week ago. It just got tired from the humidity and refuses to be turned on. It is a shame as I have plenty of music on it and there are pictures from here that I didn’t yet put on my usb, argh. Oh well. I am convinced that after some resting it will be a happy camper again. Rasta Gildes (Lion Bar Gildas for those of you that knows him) convinces me that it can be fixed. He will bring it to some fixer; maybe it would enjoy a lively voodoo ceremony. Hah. Of not fixed here it might wake up in Finland. Who knows how computer thinks?
Another oh yes, I decided to buy a moped. This way I am free to drive wherever and whenever I want and don’t have to walk alone in the darkness. The only catch is that I have to go to Togo, to Lomé, to buy it and drive it myself over the boarder. I could buy an old shitty one from here but apparently I would have to put a decent sum of money on constantly repairing it so it is better to buy a new one from Lomé or a quite fresh one at least. Can’t say I am a moped expert but it shouldn’t be too difficult to drive a small moped in the sand. Shouldn’t be more difficult than biking in the snow, at least this is what I tell myself. Luckily I don’t have to make my moped business on my own. The energetic museum boss Soile is here for 2 months and she is also buying a moped, so on Saturday Soile, Saku (her husband) and I go to Lomé and come back with two lovely mopeds; at least so we hope. I will be a proud moped owner!
It is fun to see that all kind of people have found this blogg, former stipendiâtes finlandaise and stagiaires, family and friends! I hope I am able to describe the things I feel, see and experience in a way that you can in some ways share this time with me. I will try to post some pictures as soon as possible. At time of writing this internet has been down for a couple of days, but there is always tomorrow.
30 january
we have not had internet for a week, so now i came with monsier kwassi to the nearby villages internet to check some work e-mails. lots have happened again. Two days ago i spent the night and following day at the hospital with one of the finnish artist. He calles maarit and me at one in the morning as he had had an attack of eplilepsia. we took him to grand popo hospital and i spent the night with him there. They couldn't do anything so we just waited. One interesting detail is that we should have brought our own bed sheets with us, as there are none at the hospital. Obviously we did not knw this so we slept on some plastic beds. At 8 in the morning we went to cotonou where i dragged him around the whole day as he was in very bad shape. At the same time maarit sent me an sms saying that tehre is a moped i could buy; cheap. I answered, yes, and make the deal.
So when i returned from cotonou at 10 in the evening, which was by the way madness to drive in the darkness, i had a moped in the livingroom. I tried it yesterday and of course i directly fell off.. so i am filled with bruises but hey, that is the way it is in the beginning. It is a cool moped; not a scooter. I will post pictures one day but now i have to run. Thank you all for e-mails, and sorry that i haven't been able to answer ( cause of no telephone ligne). kisses and hugs
Black/White, Bodies, Gecko, English, Laptop and Moped !
In the beginning of my stay in Grand Popo I thought that there was me, the Finns and the black Africans. Different colours of black Africans.
Now I think there are me and the finns that make a unity of yovos, and then there are friends, colleagues, fruit ladies, moped chauffeurs, children on their way to school, and a bunch of people I haven’t had the chance to talk to yet. The blackness has disappeared. All that is rest is my own yovoness. I don’t see people as black anymore. I see friends and smiles. I do have to admit though that I react when I see a new yovo in town; who is that and doing what? Interesting how fast a way of perceiving things can change. That I am grateful for. Maybe old dogs can learn to sit after all.
The regular body contact stroke me as slightly awkward in the beginning. My female colleagues straight forward grab my breasts, my male boss likes to comment my butt, lunch lady wants me for herself and makes sure to always touch my butt before I leave…and so on and so on. There is a lot of talk about my butt. They appreciate a round African butt on a yovo. Feels very strange to get so many comments about my body from people I don’t know. I don’t think much about it anymore unless it is a new form of comment. At least most of the comments are positive; otherwise it could be a bit heart breaking…
Today there was a frozen gecko in our fridge. I wonder how it got in. When it got taken out it fell like a dead dude on the floor. A while later it decided that ok, enough time being frozen, so it got up and continued its day as normal. Impressive. Geckos and lizards enjoy our garden. When they are not chasing each other they are relaxing in the sun. In the evenings they are curious what we are up to in the house so they tend to take a peak before being chase out by a mean yovo.
Today is the day for English course. The trainee is also teaching English twice a week for anyone that is interested. Yesterday we had only three students and yet it was somewhat difficult to know how to teach. The difficulties are caused by the fact that the students are all in very different levels of English knowledge. Otherwise I think it is quite fun.
Oh yes, my laptop died a week ago. It just got tired from the humidity and refuses to be turned on. It is a shame as I have plenty of music on it and there are pictures from here that I didn’t yet put on my usb, argh. Oh well. I am convinced that after some resting it will be a happy camper again. Rasta Gildes (Lion Bar Gildas for those of you that knows him) convinces me that it can be fixed. He will bring it to some fixer; maybe it would enjoy a lively voodoo ceremony. Hah. Of not fixed here it might wake up in Finland. Who knows how computer thinks?
Another oh yes, I decided to buy a moped. This way I am free to drive wherever and whenever I want and don’t have to walk alone in the darkness. The only catch is that I have to go to Togo, to Lomé, to buy it and drive it myself over the boarder. I could buy an old shitty one from here but apparently I would have to put a decent sum of money on constantly repairing it so it is better to buy a new one from Lomé or a quite fresh one at least. Can’t say I am a moped expert but it shouldn’t be too difficult to drive a small moped in the sand. Shouldn’t be more difficult than biking in the snow, at least this is what I tell myself. Luckily I don’t have to make my moped business on my own. The energetic museum boss Soile is here for 2 months and she is also buying a moped, so on Saturday Soile, Saku (her husband) and I go to Lomé and come back with two lovely mopeds; at least so we hope. I will be a proud moped owner!
It is fun to see that all kind of people have found this blogg, former stipendiâtes finlandaise and stagiaires, family and friends! I hope I am able to describe the things I feel, see and experience in a way that you can in some ways share this time with me. I will try to post some pictures as soon as possible. At time of writing this internet has been down for a couple of days, but there is always tomorrow.
30 january
we have not had internet for a week, so now i came with monsier kwassi to the nearby villages internet to check some work e-mails. lots have happened again. Two days ago i spent the night and following day at the hospital with one of the finnish artist. He calles maarit and me at one in the morning as he had had an attack of eplilepsia. we took him to grand popo hospital and i spent the night with him there. They couldn't do anything so we just waited. One interesting detail is that we should have brought our own bed sheets with us, as there are none at the hospital. Obviously we did not knw this so we slept on some plastic beds. At 8 in the morning we went to cotonou where i dragged him around the whole day as he was in very bad shape. At the same time maarit sent me an sms saying that tehre is a moped i could buy; cheap. I answered, yes, and make the deal.
So when i returned from cotonou at 10 in the evening, which was by the way madness to drive in the darkness, i had a moped in the livingroom. I tried it yesterday and of course i directly fell off.. so i am filled with bruises but hey, that is the way it is in the beginning. It is a cool moped; not a scooter. I will post pictures one day but now i have to run. Thank you all for e-mails, and sorry that i haven't been able to answer ( cause of no telephone ligne). kisses and hugs
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Harmattan, Ouidah, Mina and Corruption!
Another saturday at work.
Harmattan is slowly over and heat has showed its side. It is humid and hot, but apparently nothing yet. Today Harmattan could again be felt as the morning was nice and chilly. During the middle of the day during the last week it has been so sweaty that one can’t do much else than run into the big waves or throw oneself in the nearby Hotel’s swimming pool. The waves are big and the water is salty. The best time for swimming is between 12-14 p.m as the sea is at its calmest during this time of the day. The waves are anyways big at this time and the currents are very very strong so one has to be careful. The salty water and the waves hitting me in the back of my head make my hair very funny, its becoming Rasta à la naturell. The Rasta-reggae population of Grand Popo really likes my messy silly looking hair.
On Wednesday I visited Ouidah with the Finns. My job was to translate everything the guide said in the museum of history and at the port of no return. It is tiring to concentrate to hard especially as I naturally get the Swedish words in my head but not the Finnish ones, so my head is doing a double translation task…phew. But it was very interesting as it was all about the slave trade and the history around it. It is a cruel brutal past. The things we people do to one another, it’s incomprehensible.
I have been thinking about the local dialects lately. People here learn French in school but hardly ever speak French to one another. Here they mostly speak mina that is also spoken in southern parts of Togo. I tend to forget that French is not people’s mother tongue. Then I realized that it is a bit like being a finn-swed, most of finns-sweds speak a good if not a fluent finnish but many also struggle with it. It is like French here; many speak it absolutely fluently while other struggle to find words and especially numbers. This mostly concerns elderly as young people use French on a daily basis in school.
My mother called me yesterday and said that there had been a program about Villa Karo on FST. Apparently it had shown Villa Karo in a very bad light in many different ways. Local authorities that they had interviewed had a negative view of Villa Karo and its impact on Grand Popo. This surprises me as it is not the impression I get being here. Many locals appreciate Villa Karo greatly partly because it has woken up a sleepy almost dying little town and given many locals jobs and party because Villa Karo organizes free concerts every months and movie nights every Friday. For the concerts up to 4000 people attend from all nearby villages. The institute is open for everyone; at least this is the point of the institute. Yesterday a local catholic school visited the postcard exhibition and the children between 3 and 11 years of age were very excited and it was many times pointed out to them that they are always welcome to the institute. Drawing and music classes are being arranged for local children, obviously for free. Of course there is also another side of the coin. The program on FST had apparently also shown a side of corruption, that Villa Karo put money on beer and parties while the town needs money for schools and medicines and so on. Finnish Artists that maybe don’t have enormous amounts of money in Finland can live like Kings here and eat at restaurants every night and basically buy all they want. Of course this is very frustrating for people in a poor country that can’t put a third of a monthly salary on an evening out at the restaurant. Of course being here as a yovo feels a bit perverse at times. We live in the fancy houses and eat at restaurants. The program also brought to light something about Villa Karo stopping a Finnish school to collaborate in Grand Popo. It is quite impossible for someone that doesn’t know the language or the culture to come here and collaborate and this is why the project should have gone through Villa Karo, as the cultural institute already had a steady foot in the society. Well I haven’t seen the program so I shouldn’t comment more but it simply doesn’t seem like objective journalism. One can always create a bit of drama it one wants to. Why didn’t the program bring to light any of the positive effects Villa Karo has on this town, or was the point that there are not any? I have a hard time believing that.
Harmattan is slowly over and heat has showed its side. It is humid and hot, but apparently nothing yet. Today Harmattan could again be felt as the morning was nice and chilly. During the middle of the day during the last week it has been so sweaty that one can’t do much else than run into the big waves or throw oneself in the nearby Hotel’s swimming pool. The waves are big and the water is salty. The best time for swimming is between 12-14 p.m as the sea is at its calmest during this time of the day. The waves are anyways big at this time and the currents are very very strong so one has to be careful. The salty water and the waves hitting me in the back of my head make my hair very funny, its becoming Rasta à la naturell. The Rasta-reggae population of Grand Popo really likes my messy silly looking hair.
On Wednesday I visited Ouidah with the Finns. My job was to translate everything the guide said in the museum of history and at the port of no return. It is tiring to concentrate to hard especially as I naturally get the Swedish words in my head but not the Finnish ones, so my head is doing a double translation task…phew. But it was very interesting as it was all about the slave trade and the history around it. It is a cruel brutal past. The things we people do to one another, it’s incomprehensible.
I have been thinking about the local dialects lately. People here learn French in school but hardly ever speak French to one another. Here they mostly speak mina that is also spoken in southern parts of Togo. I tend to forget that French is not people’s mother tongue. Then I realized that it is a bit like being a finn-swed, most of finns-sweds speak a good if not a fluent finnish but many also struggle with it. It is like French here; many speak it absolutely fluently while other struggle to find words and especially numbers. This mostly concerns elderly as young people use French on a daily basis in school.
My mother called me yesterday and said that there had been a program about Villa Karo on FST. Apparently it had shown Villa Karo in a very bad light in many different ways. Local authorities that they had interviewed had a negative view of Villa Karo and its impact on Grand Popo. This surprises me as it is not the impression I get being here. Many locals appreciate Villa Karo greatly partly because it has woken up a sleepy almost dying little town and given many locals jobs and party because Villa Karo organizes free concerts every months and movie nights every Friday. For the concerts up to 4000 people attend from all nearby villages. The institute is open for everyone; at least this is the point of the institute. Yesterday a local catholic school visited the postcard exhibition and the children between 3 and 11 years of age were very excited and it was many times pointed out to them that they are always welcome to the institute. Drawing and music classes are being arranged for local children, obviously for free. Of course there is also another side of the coin. The program on FST had apparently also shown a side of corruption, that Villa Karo put money on beer and parties while the town needs money for schools and medicines and so on. Finnish Artists that maybe don’t have enormous amounts of money in Finland can live like Kings here and eat at restaurants every night and basically buy all they want. Of course this is very frustrating for people in a poor country that can’t put a third of a monthly salary on an evening out at the restaurant. Of course being here as a yovo feels a bit perverse at times. We live in the fancy houses and eat at restaurants. The program also brought to light something about Villa Karo stopping a Finnish school to collaborate in Grand Popo. It is quite impossible for someone that doesn’t know the language or the culture to come here and collaborate and this is why the project should have gone through Villa Karo, as the cultural institute already had a steady foot in the society. Well I haven’t seen the program so I shouldn’t comment more but it simply doesn’t seem like objective journalism. One can always create a bit of drama it one wants to. Why didn’t the program bring to light any of the positive effects Villa Karo has on this town, or was the point that there are not any? I have a hard time believing that.
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